Playboy Magazine Due on iPad in March – Uncensored (Yes, Naked Boobs and Dirty Talk)

Playboy fans, rejoice – your favorite magazine should be available on Apple’s iPad beginning March. This gets even better because Playboy Enterprises is apparently slated to release every issue of Playboy published since 1953 on Apple’s gizmo, the magazine’s creator Hugh Hefner said. The 84-year-old founder and CEO of Playboy Enterprises simply tweeted the following earlier today:

Big news! Playboy – both old & new – will be available on iPad beginning in March.

The Playboy magazine is currently available on the iPhone and iPod touch as a 99-cent-per-issue app download. This prompted a Twitter user to respond to Hefner’s tweet and seek explanation about nudity censorship. Not to worry iPad owners, the Playboy creator responded, the iPad edition will , he wrote in another tweet:

Playboy on iPad will be uncensored, Hugh.

It’s an interesting development because it shows Apple could be steering away from the original App Store promise of a sex-less app bazaar. Apple’s marketing honcho Phil Schiller went on record a year ago to defend Apple’s puritanism by arguing the company needs to "put the needs of the kids and parents first." Apple later relaxed its submission guidelines to allow previously banned apps so more nudity became available as part of the change.

The pressure Apple’s facing from Android and the fact such apps are readily available on Google’s Android Market which doesn’t screen submissions may have also pushed Apple to relax its rules regarding boobs on the App Store. And with 160 million iDevices sold to date, Apple stands to lose a lot if it alienates grown ups who could simply turn to other platform in order to enjoy nude content on their smartphones.

Playboy for iPhone is available at 99 cents per issue, but it’s censored. Its iPad counterpart is arriving in March, uncensored – says its creator Hugh Hefner.